'Unprofessional' Teams chat stand-downs a warning for others

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Microsoft Teams.
Photo: AFP

An employment lawyer says workers should think twice before writing to colleagues on any platform, including apps such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, or even Facebook Messenger.

Eight staff at Immigration NZ have been stood down after a series of what the agency is calling “inappropriate and unprofessional Teams chats” were discovered while investigating an unrelated complaint.

Immigration head Alison McDonald said the “serious and concerning” comments appeared to be in breach of the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) code of conduct, which included expectations staff were professional and objective in their language, actions and interactions.

Employment lawyer Barbara Buckett told RNZ’s Morning Report on Tuesday it was a “bit of a wake-up call” for employees using digital communication methods.

“People have these chats and it sort of seems to be a secure medium from an employee point of view, and they get carried away a bit. They get into these group chats and they seem to treat it like, sort of like the old watercooler and so they think it’s all between themselves and it just sort of grows and mushrooms.”

She said chats on work digital infrastructure were “etched in stone”.

“It’s not like, you know, a cup of coffee, it goes into the ether or, you know, down at the pub on a Friday night. It’s absolutely retrievable, and I don’t think people appreciate that.”

On the other hand, employers had an obligation to ensure their employees knew this, she said.

“[Employers] talk about expectations, what we expect, professional and appropriate behaviours. But I think on the other side of the reverse of the coin is also the employers, you know, making clear what those expectations are in terms of the use of these platforms.”

Alison McDonald, head of INZ.
Photo: Photo / Jayson Kingsbeer

While the staff had been stood down, there was still an employment law process MBIE had to go through, Buckett said.

“I’m not sure that there hasn’t been some sort of… a rush of blood to the head by MBIE in terms of already sort of seeing this as serious without first having investigated, and… we don’t know what the facts are.”

MBIE became aware of the Teams conversations while looking into an unrelated complaint about decisions made by an employee, which was not substantiated.

Buckett said it was becoming increasingly common for potentially problematic Teams chats surfacing while bosses were looking for something else entirely.

“It’s a work tool, it’s a work-related tool, and [employees] have to be circumspect about how they use it.

“As one client said to me when he got into trouble just recently and I’m looking after that person, he said, ‘I do see these are not things that I would like to show my grandmother.'”